The Weekend Blog (Vol.63)

11th July 2015

Last weekend I said I had come up with a schedule/action plan to help me get motivated. As a result I have managed to apply for 16 jobs, which is pretty productive for me.

I’ve had a job offer that I’ve had to decline because of a difficult commute. I had a job rejection because despite having all the relevant skills and more I’m “fresh out of uni” so I stood no chance. Actually, make that several job rejections. I’ve had a phone call regarding a potential job in digital marketing with excellent pay and then when they promised to provide me with more information I never heard anything back.

It’s tough, and I promise I’m not trying to moan, but I am going through a very difficult time. It’s testing me and my strength, but I know I will come out of it at the end.

Anyway, let’s soldier on.

I went to see Jurassic World on Monday at the cinema. I really enjoyed it but it wasn’t as good as the original.

On Tuesday I had another steroid injection. I felt like I was in need of a top up, especially after all the walking I did on my cruise holiday, and so far it feels like its working.

I’m off to another blogger meet up tomorrow, and on Thursday it’s my graduation, so I have a few things to look forward to. A few things to keep my mind occupied.

Oh and I’m learning PHP. I’ve use PHP for years for WordPress but I’d like to properly understand how it all works.

And I’m so with you on the job hunt. It’s discouraging I’ve been trying to move up, but I haven’t had luck at all, and it’s been over a year since I’ve got my postgraduate degree. Hang in there, though, Holly. It’s rough, but you will eventually get something!

I’m sorry to hear that you’re getting rejections left and right! It’s not fair that you’re fresh out of university and they can’t take you. That’s absurd, but I think I can understand their reasoning, but still absurd. I hate it when job opportunities do that and also when they don’t even call you back. Don’t feel like you’re alone in the job world. Over here in California, we have plenty of people out of work because it’s so hard to get a job nowadays. In the 90’s it was super easy. Now it’s super hard! Though, I heard that Computer Scientists and Electrical Engineers are HIGH in demand right now. So, I’m hoping that I can make it and get that Bachelor’s Degree. I mean, sometimes I feel like giving up and I am completing my first year here at the college, but still I just feel like quitting, though I won’t. My boyfriend won’t let me.

I’m glad to know that you’re brushing up on PHP. I’m actually in the middle of learning C++ on my own. My boyfriend found these really cool websites that helps you learn on your own pace. Also, this will be great for us, because we’re both taking C++ in the fall (this upcoming semester). So, I’m super excited. Just wish me luck in getting in an English class.

This is exactly why I wish I had taken a computer science degree, and now I am considering going back to do a masters in computer science next year. There is so much money to be made in programming and web design.

C++ is such a useful language to learn. I hope to move on to that some time soon. I’m using Codecademy to learn PHP and it’s such a useful website.

How nice that you’re learning php!! I’ve also been fiddling with it for a long time and have learned a lot through just modifying themes, and doing other WordPress-related stuff, but there is still lots of it that I don’t understand.
I’m so sorry about the job rejections. Really I think it’s a shame that they put you down because of “fresh out of uni”. I think it’s people like you that should be hired. Companies should take advantage of the “fresh out of uni” status. Many companies may never find people with “those skills”, why not just hire someone who has an interest and a good knowledge base, and teach them all about their business idea and niche. My husband is a business owner, he develops and supports debt collection systems, and he doesn’t look for specific skills in people, he looks for good people (with skills and interest in software, obviously) that can be useful in his business and then he finds what suits them within the company.
Have you thought of starting your own business, by the way?

I thought I knew PHP pretty well until I started learning about it through Codecademy. There’s so much more to it than I though, and I’m enjoy it.

I feel like my enthusiasm and knowledge would be valuable to a business, but if they can’t see it then it’s their loss.

Starting my own business is definetly something I’m considering right now. At the weekend I had the website open to register as self-employed but I was to scared! I don’t know why. I think it will be an interesting challenge.

Congratulations on applying for 16 jobs! Hope you’ll land on the good ones with a short commute :). The problem these days with getting a job is that you need x years of experience for an entry-level job. Finding that job you can stick with for a long time is hard, but not impossible. Never give up~

Hope the blogger meet was fun! I haven’t had any formal learning about PHP, but the logic picks up after knowing how other programming languages work. “Oh, this is what the if statement in this PHP script means!”

No, I really should have followed it up. I’m so bad at remembering to take people’s name and number when they ring me up. I’m sure if I said “Mind if I take your details?” they’d be more likely to ring me back.

Graduation is going to be so exciting! Just the feeling of accomplishment setting in will be great, hope you have a wonderful time. Glad to hear the job hunting is going great, have you heard anything from the virtual assistance agency yet, I have not from the one here, but I may email when that awkward two weeks goes by. The blogger meet ups look cool! I wish there was one where I am, but there are not enough bloggers here.

I am currently using my Javascript knowledge to learn how to code in jQuery. After that I want to try and use Node JS and Anchor or Vanilla JS. PHP is on my list, but I think I still have a course coming up for that so I have put it on hold. Love those notes! That’s how I learn too.

Good luck with your job search! I know when I graudate it’s going to be tough as so many people have similar or the exact same degree as me! I’m not looking foward to it at all, but I may just end up falling back on dairy farming. It makes money, and I know I can get a job somewhere.

As for PHP, good luck! Currently I’m taking a GIS class and we have to think of our own projects. We can pick to make a webmap, or maybe even a script in Python for the actual GIS project. I think whatever I end up doing if I want a good mark I’m going to have to learn to program / code in some shape or form that is different from my tiny small “design skillz” with wordpress haha.